


Life in the Clouds

by Lastavica



Series: Early Days [4]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: American Sign Language, Being cold, Best Friends, Boredom, Clouds, Coffee, Deaf Clint Barton, Developing Relationship, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Gen, Helicarrier (Marvel), High altitude, Killing Time, Not Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie) Compliant, One Shot, Pre-Avengers (2012), Rainbows, SHIELD, Strike Team Delta (Marvel), bored, getting drenched, having fun like kids, making memories
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-17
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-12 04:56:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29504466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lastavica/pseuds/Lastavica
Summary: With time to kill before a mission, Clint shows Natasha something cool on the helicarrier.
Relationships: Clint Barton/Natasha Romanov
Series: Early Days [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2192205
Comments: 4
Kudos: 27





	Life in the Clouds

**Author's Note:**

> This is not Age of Ultron compliant, ie: Laura who? Takes place sometime early in the Strike Team Delta days before Avengers (2012). I'm feeling those old school feels. And I just made myself super happy writing this little funshot this evening. Also, I've ALWAYS wanted to write a fic with hearing impaired Clint, but never have. I barely did here, but I'm still very pleased. :D I hope you enjoy!

Strike Team Delta had its orders. They'd prepped for their mission and the only thing now was to wait. The Triskellion was currently somewhere over the Pacific, near Hawaii, with plans to rendezvous with the Lemurian Star. All Agent Barton knew was that it had nothing to do with him and Romanoff. Normally they would have ditched the helicarrier in a quinjet as soon as they were mission ready. Unfortunately this particular one had a very specific timeline, giving them six days to kill aboard the floating SHIELD HQ. In the meantime, they trained and they waited. Even worse was that it was Christmas time so the ship was operating with a skeleton crew. There was almost nobody around and there was absolutely nothing going on.

Clint's forehead thumped down on the table as he gave up trying to make Natasha appreciate card tricks. They didn't normally hang out in the mess, but it was so empty they didn't feel the need to vacate after eating together. Natasha picked up the abandoned cards and shuffled them expertly. Then she began dealing out a game of solitaire while Clint remained exactly how he was, staring down as his boots under the table. She went about deftly moving and flipping cards.

"We can go over the op again." She suggested, not looking up from her game.

Clint groaned. She smirked.

"Wanna spar?"

"No."

Natasha fell silent. She continued her game until all of the sudden Clint's head popped off the table.

"What?" She asked.

He didn't asnwer. Instead he tilted his head while his eyes seemed to roam the ceiling.

"Are we descending?" He asked.

"How is that something you could tell?"

He shrugged, head still cocked like a listening German Shepherd.

Suddenly he slapped his hands on the table.

"Come on." He said and jumped up from his seat.

"What are we doing?" She asked.

"You'll see." He said and jogged off through the doubled doors.

Natasha sighed and got up to follow. Whatever it was it had to be more interesting than solitaire and him moping.

He led her down down a few levels and through the bowels of the ship. She just rolled her eyes when he bypassed a few engineering clearances. Finally, at the end of a service corridor, he pushed open a heavy door that led out to a small maintenance deck. They both gasped from the rush of moist chilly air and the steadily declining altitude. The only thing between them and a drop to their deaths was a simple safety rail. Clint grabbed the second rung of the railing and sat down. He looked so natural sitting there with his legs dangling over the white cloudy sky. Natasha took up the same position beside him.

They didn't try to speak to each other. It was too loud. They had to squint as the wet clouds crashed into them. Within seconds condensation was dripping from their hands and faces. Natasha felt herself laughing. Clint looked over at her with a big smile, his eyes just barely open. He let go of the rail with one hand and signed 'shower'. She nodded in agreement. The clouds below their feet suddenly parted and revealed the bold blue expanse of the Pacific. A second later, Clint nudged her arm. She looked up to see what he was seeing. Glimmering refracted light danced before them as misty rainbows. They watched in awe until their teeth began chattering with cold. Clint got up first. He kept one hand secure on the rail and offered his other to her. She took it and they quickly ducked back inside the narrow corridor. When the door slammed behind them, they looked at each other. They were dripping wet and now chilled to the bone. Huge grins came to their faces and they both took off running for warmth.

A little while later they found themselves back in the near empty cafeteria sitting across from each other. They had changed into warm dry clothes and both of them cradled a hot coffee between their palms.

"I'm so glad we're going to Peru and not... wherever the hell we were last time." Clint said looking into his steaming mug. "I hate being cold."

Natasha, much too Russian to be bothered by low temperatures, simply smirked. Still, she thoroughly enjoyed the warmth of the coffee in her hands. She took a sip and savored the heat it brought to her chest.

"Thanks." she said.

Clint looked up at her. "What for?"

"The", she started and then signed the next word. "shower."

Clint laughed. He put his mug down and took out his hearing aids.

"Say it again." he signed.

Natasha lifted her right hand and tapped her index and middle finger to her thumb. "No."

Clint's eyes crinkled into an even deeper smile and he put his hearing aids back in.

"You're learning." he said and took a sip of coffee.


End file.
